Have you drawn up a detailed budget and are struggling to keep to it? According to an article in the NYT*, it would be best to just give it up. Well, not exactly. But it does say that keeping to a strict budget might not be the best way to go about spending less or saving your money. The money and pyschology experts they interview say that a budget can be like a diet — it doesn’t often last long and may just end up with you standing at the freezer late at night devouring a quart of ice cream right out of the container.

It’s human nature, they say. We generally have trouble following through with our “best-laid plans.” And after a long period of focusing on restrictions — we binge. Compounding the problem is the abstract nature of credit cards and such. Watching cold, hard cash dwindle is far more painful and thus more effective in reigning in our spending.Continue Reading

You try to do the right thing. You create a financial plan and set up a budget to follow in your home budget software or budgeting spreadsheet. But it seems your budget still gets busted and it bugs the heck out of you! What keeps messing up your calculations?!? I’ll tell you what screws up your budget: L I F E.Continue Reading

But for many it’s too tough to start (especially eating healthy on a budget). We get into eating habits, that aren’t great, and its just too much to give them up and change our lifestyles.

So what do we do? We don’t bother; it’s too hard.

Does this help a person?

Nope. Does this sound like anything else we don’t take care of because its too hard? Yup, personal finance! So what’s the answer to eating healthy? Just like your personal finances, you can start with baby steps and move from there. Make small changes to your habits, little by little, and build up over time.Continue Reading

As someone with a bunch of regular expenses, I know that they add up. I also know that you’d have to pry my laptop from my cold, dead fingers before I’d voluntarily give up the internet. In my husband’s case, cable is a necessity. How do you choose between one recurring expense and another? Prioritize.Continue Reading

Do you have goals, dreams, and ambitions? Chances are you do, which brings me to my next question. Do you have a budget? If you don’t have a budget then the chances of you reaching those goals, dreams, and ambitions are smaller than if you had a financial road map to follow. Unfortunately, too many people attach negative connotations and misconceptions to what budgeting actually means for you.Continue Reading

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